Mother-daughter duo to walk at Saint Leo graduation

It has been a long academic road for Thelma Melendy, who was told in 1959 that her college placement test scores were only average and she should likely struggle to be a C student.

By Joe CallahanStaff writer

It has been a long academic road for Thelma Melendy, who was told in 1959 that her college placement test scores were only average and she should likely struggle to be a C student.

Since her father's dream was for her to graduate college, she gave it a shot anyway. But Melendy dropped out after meeting her future husband, Larry.

Fifty years later, she decided to make her father proud and prove she was college material.

In 2009, at the age of 68, she enrolled online at Saint Leo University, the very school her daughter, Lisa, attends.

And for the next four years, the mother-daughter team traveled the country in a 40-foot RV — which is their home — making a living while taking their Saint Leo courses online.

Lisa Melendy, now 41, graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting, though she didn't walk at last spring's graduation. She continues to work on her master's degree.

This year, her mother finished her bachelor's degree in business administration. Tonight, on the eve of Mother's Day, Thelma will walk at a ceremony at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church. And to show support, Saint Leo officials are allowing Lisa to walk with her mother.

“And I have a B average,” Thelma Melendy, now 72, said with a laugh, thumbing her nose at her counselor's statement 54 years ago. “I know dad is in heaven, but he will get to see me graduate after all.”

Though they travel the country, the family has roots in Marion County back to the mid-1980s. Lisa graduated from Dunnellon High in 1989.

Lisa, who owns a horse grooming-type business, said the family spends the winters around Ocala. They spend summers in other states, from Colorado working on ranches to Montana focusing on the horse grooming business.

Along with the mother-daughter team, Lisa's daughter, Alicia Melendy, 8, spends life on the road being homeschooled. Larry, who is mostly retired, tags along, too.

“I'm so proud of my mom because she had to learn all about computers to do her work,” Lisa Melendy said this week. “It really is amazing.”

Thelma called the coursework “brutal,” mainly because she had so many writing assignments. But the hard work paid off for the proud grandmother.

Saint Leo is a Catholic university founded in 1889. In 1992, Saint Leo partnered with the College of Central Florida to offer bachelor's degrees. That was the beginning of the CF's University Center, which next year celebrates its 20th anniversary, said Rena Thomas, Saint Leo's assistant director in Ocala.

Saint Leo offers evening and weekend classes to accommodate the schedules of working adults. As of January 2013, there were about 2,500 Saint Leo alumni in the Marion County area, Thomas noted.